The murders that Macbeth committed not only showed his brutality and ruthlessness but it also showed how twisted is soul is. These murders indicate the darkness of Macbeth because he not only kills the king, but he kills those who love and respect him. It could also be because of how selfish and corrupt Macbeth became from the thirst of power that could never be quenched. Once becoming the Thane of Cawdor, Macbeth enjoyed having a title to his name. Sadly, this title was not enough for him so Macbeth’s imagination had the “witches” prophecy be that Macbeth would become the Thane of Cawdor (which he already knew) and a king.
Hamlet delays in killing Claudius not only because he 's suffering from an Oedipal complex but also because his basic sanity keeps him from killing Claudius. In society we are taught that those who commit murder are sick or insane and will go to hell. However, Hamlet 's society believes the son of a murdered noble is responsible for avenging his father. And if the son does not abide to this law he himself deserves
Similarly, he sent murderers to kill him as he was fearful of the loss of his kingship. Macbeth’s relationship with Banquo has more significance to him than his relationship with Duncan, thus, him betraying Banquo affected him with a greater impact than his betrayal of Duncan. This is evidenced by how his guilt takes the form of Banquo and not
In addition, this shows how much Macbeth has changed through the course of the play. In the beginning of the play, Macbeth was hesitant about killing Duncan and felt extremely guilty after doing so. However, after deciding to kill Macduff’s family, Macbeth doesn’t feel hesitant regarding his decision and doesn’t feel guilty at all. This act of cruelty is ironic because originally this act is committed in order for Macbeth to maintain his power, but instead, it is the final straw that causes his death and downfall. Overall,
Firstly, he murdered her father, although it wasn’t on purpose, it still absolutely crushes her and she will never be the same. Also according to Document D (“ I did love you once. Indeed, my lord, you made me believe so. You should not have believed me…. I loved you not; I was the more deceived.
With that said, there is not right, or wrong way be a man, even though these characters say that there are wrong ways to be a man. Once Macduff hears about the murder of his family, he is devastated. Malcolm begins to tell him to use this anger and despair for his family as motivation, "Dispute it like a man" (IV, iii, 220). Macduff then replies with that he must also feel the despair like a man and take a second to embrace the anger, "I shall do so, But I must also feel it like a man. I cannot but remember such things were that were most precious to me" (IV, iii, 221-223).
There is no way that only a pursuit of power would drive someone this crazy to murder people who are not even threats to his goal as king so why do it in the first place? While nearing the end of the play, readers can see that Macbeth is using different coping methods to deal with his guilt such as doing other laborious tasks to distract his thoughts which is something people do a lot when dealing with guilt on any level of extremity. Another thing we see is how Macbeth feels that he has to lie about what he has done to keep himself safe. He feels burdened by what he has done and as a professor who studied Shakespeare 's plays once said “The more he lies, the more he cripples his conscience. The more he deceives, the deeper the trauma embeds itself in his mind” (Evans).
Macbeth’s impatience for power leads to drastic actions. He murders the king in the belief that “this blow might be the be-all and end-all” (1.7.5). This assassination could never “trammel up the consequence” (1.7.2-3), as Macbeth believes, but only leads to more trouble. Although Macbeth seizes the throne, Macbeth had to betray his loyalty to the king whose “virtues will plead like angels” (1.7.18-19), and his morality has paid the price. Macbeth has now lost all sense of what honor is by using such dishonest ways to become king.
He consequently remarks: “Mine eyes are made the fools o’th’other senses” (II, i, 44). In doing so, Macbeth implies that he lost control of what his eyes see. Unfortunately for Macbeth, his loss of visual awareness is what truly exhibits his culpability. Humans, accustomed to committing crimes, often lose their self-control and allow themselves to make harsh decisions without forethought. This quick, ignorant decision-making elicits a certain ruthlessness; hence, Macbeth ends up killing his own family member and king: Duncan.
Macbeth says, “Whose execution takes your enemy off, grapples you to the love and heart of us, who wears our health but sickly in his life, which in his death were perfect” (lines 105-108). This sentence displays dramatic irony because Banquo’s death will plague Macbeth’s mind with guilt, not make his health perfect. Like Okonkwo killing Ikemefuna in Things Fall Apart, Macbeth is killing a close friend to hold power, which yet again shows the consumption of control from ambition and power. This instills fear in the audience, as they are afraid of who, or what, Macbeth has become. But in Act 5 Scene 3, he states “I must not look to have; but, in their stead, curses not loud but deep, mouth-honor, breath, which the poor heart would fain deny and dare not” (lines 24-28).